Implications for Systemic Approaches to COVID-19: Effect Sizes of Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Melatonin, Vitamin D3, and Meditation

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 poses a chronic threat to inflammatory systems, reinforcing the need for efficient anti-inflammatory strategies. The purpose of this review and analysis was to determine the efficacy of various interventions upon the inflammatory markers most affected by COVID-19. The focus was on the markers associated with COVID-19, not the etiology of the virus itself. METHODS: Based on 27 reviewed papers, information was extracted on the effects of COVID-19 upon inflammatory markers, then the effects of standard treatments (Remdesivir, Tocilizumab) and adjunctive interventions (vitamin D(3), melatonin, and meditation) were extracted for those markers. These data were used to approximate effect sizes for the disease or interventions via standardized mean differences (SMD). RESULTS: The data that were available indicated that adjunctive interventions affected 68.4% of the inflammatory markers impacted by COVID-19, while standard pharmaceutical medication affected 26.3%. DISCUSSION: Nonstandard adjunctive care appeared to have comparable or superior effects in comparison to Remdesivir and Tocilizumab on the inflammatory markers most impacted by COVID-19. Alongside standards of care, melatonin, vitamin D(3), and meditation should be considered for treatment of SARS-COV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease.